Inbound visitors increased by 22.3% in March – NSO

There was an estimated 141,266 inbound visitors in March, an increase of 22.3% when compared to the corresponding month last year, the National Statistics Office said today.

Inbound tourist trips were carried out for holiday purposes numbered 105,080, while a further 20,017 were undertaken for business purposes.

The NSO said that inbound tourists from EU Member States went up by 23.4 per cent to 123,063 when compared to the corresponding month in 2016.

It noted that the majority of inbound tourists were aged between 45 and 64, closely followed by those within the 25-44 age bracket.

The number of nights spent went up by 6.8 per cent when compared to March 2016, amounting to 856,920 nights. The NSO said that the largest share of guest nights (70.3 per cent) was spent in collective accommodation establishments. Tourist nights in private accommodation increased by 9.2 per cent when compared to March 2016.

Tourist expenditure was estimated at €96.5 million, the NSO added that this was an increase of 11.8 per cent over the corresponding month in 2016.

From January to March, inbound tourist trips reached 348,890, being an increase of 24.0 per cent over the same period in 2016. Total nights spent by inbound tourists went up by 11.1 per cent, reaching nearly 2.3 million nights.

The NSO said that total tourism expenditure was estimated at €237.2 million, 13.3 per cent higher than that recorded for 2016. The total expenditure per capita stood at €680, a decrease of 8.6 per cent when compared to 2016.